


Unconditionally

by lunarlychallenged



Series: Don Quixote [2]
Category: Maniac (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Post canon, Pre-Relationship, buying an apartment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 19:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16624838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarlychallenged/pseuds/lunarlychallenged
Summary: "Who comes to a good tree, good shadow shelters him."Buying an apartment is difficult for two broke people.





	Unconditionally

“Buying a place of my own was one of the most stressful things I ever did,” Annie sighed.

“Yeah,” Owen hummed. He flipped through newspapers in the hopes that one of them would have a decent apartment advertisement, but wasn’t all that hopeful. Their definition of “decent” would plummet soon enough.

“I was behind on my rent all the time.”

He hummed again. He’d never missed rent; he was always too worried that somebody would chock it up to mental instability and evict him.

“And the drugs,” Annie sighed. It sounded more like she was remembering it all than like she was talking to Owen. “Nonstop.”

“It sounds like you’re trying to talk me out of being your roommate,” he said.

“Please. I gave you a free ride. You’re stuck with me, roomie.” She circled an ad. “Harpo is dooming us to living in cardboard boxes.”

“He’s living in yours.”

Annie snorted. “He’d live in yours, and you know it.”

Harpo, who had curled himself around one of Owen’s feet, sighed.

“Maybe,” Owen said. He’d never been much of a dog person, but he liked the way this dog came to check in on him periodically. He liked the unbridled enthusiasm when he walked through the door.

“Alright,” Annie said, slapping the table and standing. “Let’s get this show on the road. Time to check out some places.”

 

 

Annie had never been able to imagine her entire dream home, but she had always been able to vividly picture one spot.

She wanted to have a bay window. It would be filled with pillows, and the sun would shine through it just so. Healthy Annie would read her books there, and she supposed that Harpo would sit up there with her.

Salt Lake City did not have many affordable bay windows.

 

 

“Annie,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“This place doesn’t have a shower.”

Annie frowned at him. “So, what, just a tub?”

“No,” he said. “Just a toilet and a sink.”

She swore. “No wonder this was the cheapest one. Ugh. Let’s go.”

 

 

Owen had grown up in a home with everything he could have wanted, with one glaring exception.

He desperately wanted privacy.

Once he had his own apartment, he realized that maybe privacy hadn’t been the right word. He did not want to be lonely, and it seemed like he almost always was. No, it wasn’t privacy, exactly; Owen wanted good company.

He didn’t care much about where he and Annie lived, since his requirements had already been met.

 

 

An elderly couple was renting out their basement as an apartment, and it was about as promising as it sounded.

“There’s no kitchen down here,” Annie pointed out.

The old woman smiled. “You can use ours.”

“No washer or dryer, either.”

“Ours is upstairs—you can use it,” the woman said.

Owen had to hide a smile when Annie sighed. “So, you’re saying that we’d basically be your roommates.”

“We’re easy to live with,” the woman said.

“We’ll—ah—get back to you,” Owen said, looking between the retreating Annie and the surprised old woman. “Thanks.”

 

 

Despite having seen Annie in professional clothes on the B and C pills, nothing could have prepared Owen to seen her in the Beige Monstrocity.

“Can’t risk messing things up with the temp agency on the first day,” she grunted, adjusting her tights. “Gotta look my best.”

“You’ll be great,” he said, gaze glued to the overly sensible dress suit.

“Eyes on the prize, Owen.”

“What?” His head snapped up, suddenly realizing that he had only been looking at her breasts.

Annie grinned. “You’re right, all of me is a prize. But my eyes are on my face.”

His face burned, and he kept his eyes on the carpet until she left.

“She’s pretty full of herself,” he told the dog.

Harpo barked at Owen, wanting to be picked up despite being perfectly capable of jumping onto the bed on his own. 

“Now I know where you get it from,” Owen said, lifting the dog and hugging him close. He had been looking at the Beige Monstrocity. Not—not the prize, or whatever.

 

 

“You two make a wonderful couple,” the woman said. “How long have you been married?”

“We aren’t married,” Annie said.

The landlord said nothing about getting in touch with them, after that.

 

 

“Maybe we could just live in this motel for the rest of our lives,” Annie sighed.

“Harpo is staying here secretly. We’d be hiding him for the rest of our lives.”

Annie was laying facedown on her bed, voice muffled by her pillow. “We’re good at keeping secrets.”

Maybe, if Owen got a really good job, they could buy a house. Maybe they could offer more money to a landlord to let Harpo stay. Maybe they could find a nice cave and live there debt-free.

“If you turned back into a hawk,” she mumbled, “I’ll bet you wouldn’t have to pay rent.”

“You could leave a window open for me.”

“Better yet, I’ll build you a nice birdhouse,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“I’ll build my own birdhouse,” he said. He pinned the nametag to his work polo. “I’ll be swimming in cash.”

“That bookstore will pay you a fortune, that’s for sure,” Annie said.

As much as she complained, Owen thought that she seemed happy. Happy that they both had jobs, as unpleasant as it sometimes was. Happy to pursue a future instead of dwelling on the past.

“We’ll look at a few more places this weekend,” Owen said. “We’ll find a place soon.”

 

 

“You guys are cute,” the woman said. She was young, maybe in her mid-twenties.

“Thanks,” Annie said. Owen gave her a surprised look, but she paid him no mind.

“Been together long?”

“Just a few weeks,” Annie said, “but we have history.”

Owen felt his ears go red, but kept his mouth shut.

The landlord walked them through the small apartment, and it was livable. Nice. They allowed pets, and it was in their price range. It was nothing like where Owen had grown up, but he didn’t want anything like where he grew up. 

Annie linked her arm with Owen’s, smiling pleasantly the entire while. “This is it,” she said at the end of the tour. “Don’t you think, dear? This is the perfect place for us.”

“Yeah,” he said. “When can we sign?”

Immediately. They’d move in immediately.

 

 

Owen couldn’t meet Annie’s eyes while he packed his few belongings, so he didn’t bother trying. It had been hours since she had released his arm, but he felt like the pressure was still there. “What was that?”

“What?” Annie was stuffing motel towels in her backpack.

“Letting her think we’re a couple,” he said. “Now everybody in the complex is gonna think we’re a thing.”

Annie’s lips were thin. “It can’t hurt.”

Owen imagined the looks the two of them would get if either of them tried to bring a date back home. Well, if Annie tried. He couldn’t quite picture meeting Annie’s eyes after sleeping with somebody. He imagined the possibility of getting invited to dinner at somebody else’s apartment, answering questions as though they really were together.

Annie blew a bubble of gum that obscured the lower half of her face. “What, does it bother you to imagine dating me?”

“No,” he said, eyes on the ground. “No, I just don’t like lying.”

“Sometimes it can’t be helped, bud,” she said. “Sometimes lying paves the way for something true.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant, exactly. He didn’t ask.

 

 

Annie did not have a bay window, but her window had a nice view. The apartment was too quiet, but she thought she could fix that.

 

 

Owen had his own room. He had his privacy.

Annie threw his door open without knocking. The dog trotted in.

Almost privacy, then.

“Harpo was losing his mind,” she said. “He missed you.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“He suffers in silence,” she said. “I’m gonna go to the store. Wanna come?”

Owen didn’t point out that leaving defeated the purpose of letting Harpo in. He didn’t ask her what she needed him to come for. Owen went to the store, and he had no complaints about the new apartment. He had no complaints about Salt Lake City.


End file.
